Tom Brown is a Senior Legal Director at Dell, where he leads Dell’s talented intellectual property litigation team, and manages a docket of IP litigation and post-grant review proceedings. Tom has overseen scores of cases from inception through appeal, in the PTAB and in courts across the country. Intellectual property policy also forms a substantial component of Tom’s role at Dell, where he plays a leading role shaping and articulating Dell’s policy positions. In this capacity, Tom drafts and manages amicus briefs, PTO comments, and other advocacy designed to promote a balanced, effective, and efficient regime for the protection of intellectual property. Tom currently serves as chair of IPO’s Damages and Injunctions Committee and on the steering committee of the Sedona Conference Working Groups 9 and 10 on Patent Damages, Remedies, and Litigation. He is also the Counselor of the Alan D. Lourie Boston IP American Inn of Court. Before joining Dell, he was a litigation principal at Fish & Richardson, and was previously a software design engineer at Microsoft.

Michael Gulliford has more than two decades of experience in the intellectual property arena as an investor, advisor, dealmaker and former law firm partner. At Soryn IP Capital Management, Michael oversees the firm's portfolio of private credit, legal finance and other IP-specific investments. Prior to Soryn IP Capital Management, Michael founded Soryn IP Group, an intellectual property advisory and finance firm that guided the management of private and publicly traded companies with respect to patent strategy, and that closed more than $175 million in patent-centric deals. Prior to founding Soryn IP Group, Michael was a partner in the IP litigation group at Kirkland & Ellis LLP, where he counseled clients on IP issues in a host of industries. Michael holds a BA in Neuroscience from Columbia University and a JD from the Seton Hall University School of Law. Michael regularly speaks and publishes on the latest IP monetization and finance developments. Among various industry distinctions, Michael has been recognized as a Global Leader in Intellectual Property, as one of the Leading IP Strategists in the World and as a Patent Master. Chambers and Partners has also repeatedly recognized Michael as a top practitioner of IP Litigation Finance.

Jonathan Stroud is General Counsel at Unified Patents, LLC, where he manages a growing team of talented, diverse attorneys and oversees a docket of administrative challenges, appeals, licensing, pooling, and district court work in addition to trademark, copyright, administrative, amicus, policy, marketing, and corporate matters. Prior to Unified, he was a litigator with Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP, and prior to that, he was a patent examiner at the USPTO. He earned his J.D. with honors from the American University Washington College of Law; his B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Tulane University; and his M.A. in Print Journalism from the University of Southern California. He enjoys teaching, writing, and speaking on Federal Courts, patent, and administrative law.

Ryan Zurek is a Managing Director in the Investment Group of Ocean Tomo, a part of J.S. Held. Mr. Zurek leads the firm’s Advisory Services practice which is composed of IP Transaction Advisory, Investments, and non-securities Investment Banking. He holds the FINRA Series 7 and 63 license. Mr. Zurek plays an integral role in all aspects of the firm’s investment banking and asset management initiatives, including facilitating IP-driven transactions, mergers and acquisitions, IP monetization strategies, financing and IP-based special situations investments. Mr. Zurek has significant experience in IP valuation, licensing strategy, market research and cash flow analysis. Prior to joining the Investments practice, Mr. Zurek spent 5 years with Ocean Tomo’s Expert Testimony practice where he spearheaded engagements involving the valuation of intangible assets across a broad spectrum of technologies. Mr. Zurek holds a B.S. in Finance from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business.

Ford Khorsandian is President and founder of Technology & Patent Research (TPR) International, Inc. TPR was established in 1995 and specializes in the searching of patents and scientific literature for patentability, landscape, infringement, and validity/opposition in the fields of chemistry, life sciences, high-tech and engineering. TPR also provides patent analysis, and competitor intelligence studies. Ford  holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the U.K. and started his career in Europe with Derwent/Thomson Reuters (now Clarivate). Since moving to the U.S. he has held the positions of Vice President of Derwent North America, and Director at Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS), a Division of the American Chemical Society.  He has also been the Vice Chair of the Patent Information Users Group (PIUG), as well as the Chair of the PIUG Nominations Committee.  Ford is founder and board member of the International Patent Information (IPI) Institute, and Pharma-Bio-Med Institute. Since its inception, he has also been serving as the Vice Chair of the Patent Search Committee within IPO.

Matthew Luby is the Group Director, IP Analytics for Techtronic Industries North America, Inc. (TTI). TTI is a world leader in cordless technology spanning power tools, outdoor power equipment, and floor care appliances. At TTI, Matt helps the IP teams and their stakeholders understand and manage their IP assets. Matt also helps measure and refine Key Performance Indicators through the use of analytics and communicate relevant IP metrics throughout TTI business units. Prior to TTI, Matt was a US Patent Examiner and then worked for Landon IP/CPA Global, where he helped to create and lead the IP analytics consulting team. Matt is the author of several articles related to IP analytics and was selected as one of IAM’s top 300 IP strategists from 2016-2020. 

Vipul Mendiratta is the Lead at IP Analytics for Caterpillar Inc. Caterpillar Inc. is the world’s leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, off-highway diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and diesel-electric locomotives. At Caterpillar, Vipul collaborates with the IP Legal and R&D teams understand and manage their IP assets. Vipul also assists capturing and refining innovative ideas working with inventors and business units. In roles prior to Caterpillar, Vipul created and lead the IP consulting teams for about 15 years at Evalueserve Inc. Vipul is a registered attorney with New York bar and has a law degree and a mechanical engineering degree from India.

Jessica Sinnott is Vice President and Chief Intellectual Property Counsel, DuPont Legal. This role includes leadership responsibility for DuPont intellectual property work and Legal Operations. Prior to joining DuPont in 1999, she was Sr. Patent Attorney at Mobil Business Resources Corporation. She is admitted to the bars of New Jersey, New York, Virginia, and Delaware (limited practice under DE Rule 55.1), and registered to Practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office. She was s a Co-Author, Sinnott, World Patent Law and Practice; Baxter, World Patent Law and Practice (pubs) 1987 – 2020; and European Patent Practice, 2015-2018. Jessica received a BA Degree in Chemistry from Sweet Briar College and JD from New York Law School. 

Jonathan Skovholt is a founding member and Head of Search Operations at Ensemble IP, an intellectual property consulting firm providing patent search services to corporations and law firms worldwide. At Ensemble IP, Jonathan works to blend human expertise with advanced technology tools to provide the most reliable and comprehensive patent search results. Jonathan is focused on assessing AI search systems, the convergence of Boolean and AI based techniques, and the continuing evolution of patent searching. Prior to joining Ensemble IP, he managed, designed, and delivered training for Landon IP and CPA Global where he taught analysts the finer points of searching, examining, and classifying. He is a former faculty member of Patent Resources Group (PRG) and at the NIH Foundation for Advanced Education in the Sciences.  Jonathan has taught individuals on the art of prior art searching to audiences on four continents. He is also a former patent examiner. Jonathan has a BA in Physics from Gustavus Adolphus College, an MS in Physics from the University of Delaware, and a graduate certificate in Instructional Systems Development from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

Martha Yates is a Senior Principal Information Scientist and Science Fellow for Bayer CropScience.  She does patent searching and patent information management.  She is a US patent agent and a Qualified Patent Information Professional (QPIP). Martha has a BA in biology from Colorado College and a MS in Biochemistry and a MSLS from the University of Kentucky.  She is the current chair of the IPO Patent Search Committee. 

Gary Ganzi is the Senior Director and Head of IP for Evoqua | Xylem. Gary serves on the Board of Directors of IPO and is part of the Audit Committee, Board Liaison to Corporate IP Management Committee. He has a 50-year career in water treatment that include employment at Ionics, Millipore, Ionpure, USFilter, Vivendi, Veolia, Siemens, Evoqua & Xylem. He was named inventor on over 40 US patents in the field of water treatment, including pioneering work in commercialization of electrodeionization technology and is the Chair of ASTM subcommittee D19.08 on Membranes and Ion Exchange.

Kate Helmich has been with Cargill, Incorporated for 3 years and is currently the Patent Agent Team Lead. Kate is one of the Vice-Chairs of the IPO Patent Agent Committee and is passionate about advocating for Patent Agents and getting more STEM students into this career path. Prior to joining Cargill, Kate worked at Quarles & Brady in Madison, WI. Kate has a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin – Madison and a BA in Chemistry from St. Olaf College. Kate and her husband recently moved to the Twin Cities and are enjoying more time with family and friends and gearing up for next hockey season. 

Jenifer Lake is a graduate of Western Michigan University with a double major in Health Chemistry and Biomedical Sciences where she interned at Pharmacia and UpJohn (now Pfizer) working on a new class of antibiotics to combat antibiotic resistant bacteria. Jenifer began her career at Dow AgroSciences (now Corteva) in Indianapolis as a synthetic organic chemist where she spent the next decade working in fungicides, developing new methods of rapid molecule synthesis, and eventually transitioning into regulatory and quality assurance. Upon moving back to Michigan, Jenifer pivoted toward patent law by joining a local boutique law firm for about five years and becoming a registered patent agent. From there, Jenifer moved in-house, first joining BISSELL’s IP team before moving to Charles Schwab Co., Inc. She has been with Schwab for about 14 months getting their formal patent program off the ground and managing their existing patent portfolio.

Jonathan Tolstedt is a Patent Agent for the 3M Office of Intellectual Property (OIPC) in Maplewood, MN. Jonathan started his career at Rockwell Collins in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, first as a Technical Writing Group Lead (2 years) and then as a Software Systems Engineer (6 years). Jonathan then moved to the John Deere Electronics Solution group in Fargo, ND, as a software engineer and business development specialist (12 years). While employed with John Deere, Jonathan began studying for the patent bar exam and passed the exam in 2006. In 2008, Jonathan became a licensing associate for the NDSU Research Foundation (5 years), and then moved to Appareo Systems (Fargo) as their Intellectual Property Officer (2 years). Before his move to 3M, Jonathan worked as a patent agent for the law firms of Dorsey & Whitney and Davis Wright Tremaine in Seattle (2.5 years). Jonathan also had a consulting business (a moonlighting gig) providing patent drafting and prosecution services for individual inventors and startup companies in the Fargo area, starting in 2005 through 2015.

Chad Walter is the Assistant General Counsel - IP at Chevron Phillips Chemical, managing the company’s IP department which includes 4 attorneys, 3 patent liaisons, 2 IP paralegals, and 2 administrative assistants. Following graduation from Texas A&M with a Chemical Engineering degree, Chad practiced in the environmental and process engineering fields for six years.  After graduating law school at the University of Houston,  Chad practiced at Carstens and Cahoon, an IP boutique in Dallas, TX prior to joining Chevron Phillips Chemical in 2010.

Frank Gao is a registered patent attorney and chemist. Prior to joining Ladas & Parry LLP,  Mr. Gao worked for another prominent Chicago patent law firm and he was in-house patent counsel at Sandvik. Before Sandvik, he was a patent agent/attorney at a law firm in California. Before entering law school, Mr. Gao worked at Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) editorial division, where he analyzed and built database entries for patents in fields of pharmaceuticals, polymer, and material science. Mr. Gao also worked at Princeton Biomolecules where he synthesized customized peptides via solid-state synthesis. Frank is an active Mandarin Speaker and obtained undergraduate and graduate degrees in China, a Ph.D. student at Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel and also an Ohio state University graduate. Frank is a Lanham Act Mediator before the United District Court of Northern District of Illinois. 

Judge Hochberg served many years as a federal judge in the District of New Jersey. In  2015, she founded Hochberg ADR [www.JudgeHochberg.com],to serve as a Mediator, Arbitrator, Special Master, Mock Court Judge and Monitor in complex U.S. and international litigation. Judge Hochberg has served as a court-appointed Monitor in international cybersecurity cases, and is currently serving as a court-appointed Special Master in many cases in both federal and state courts, including patent, antitrust, trade secrets and multi-district litigation (MDL cases). Judge Hochberg is a distinguished neutral admitted to the rosters of the AAA, ICDR,  ICC, CPR, and WIPO; she is a Fellow of the College of Commercial Arbitrators and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. Her expertise broadly spans many areas of law: patent and other intellectual property litigation and licensing; class actions; corporate contract; insurance; banking & financial institutions; securities; antitrust; trade secrets; pharmaceutical development and licensing; merger and acquisition transactions; partnership disputes, and many more. Judge Hochberg graduated from Harvard Law School, magna cum laude, where she was an Editor of the Harvard Law Review. She earned a B.A., summa cum laude, from Tufts University, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.  She also attended the London School of Economics.

Elizabeth Ann “Betty” Morgan is board certified by the Florida Bar as a specialist in in intellectual property law through 2023 and was certified business litigation from 1997 to 2007. Admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar, Ms. Morgan also is admitted to all federal district courts in Florida and in Georgia, to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals and to the United States Supreme Court. Ms. Morgan has handled cases in Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Mississippi, Minnesota, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Nebraska, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas and the Virgin Islands. Ms. Morgan has significant jury trial experience in federal court, including patent, trademark, copyright and employment matters. Ms. Morgan has handled more than 100 matters before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.

Paul Berghoff, founder of McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert Berghoff LLP, has three decades of experience as lead trial counsel in complex patent litigation – both jury and bench trials and PTAB proceedings – concentrating in litigation involving pharmaceuticals, medical devices, biotechnology, electronics, and software. He has successfully tried scores of patent cases and has successfully argued dozens of times before he US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. He services as Chair of the firm’s Litigation & Appeals Practice Group.  He is Vice-Chair of IPO’s Amicus Brief Committee.

Greg Castanias is a partner at Jones Day in Washington, DC. He is head of the firm’s Federal Circuit team and has almost 30 years’ experience as a leading appellate and intellectual property litigator. His experience includes five US Supreme Court arguments, 70+ Federal Circuit arguments, and countless others in federal and state courts across the nation, from Alaska to Connecticut. His intellectual property experience includes such diverse technologies as genetics, diagnostics, pharmaceuticals, chemistry, electronics, and mechanical fields, as well as copyright, trademark, and trade secret disputes. He is Vice-Chair of IPO’s Amicus Brief Committee.

Wendy Larson practices trademark law with a focus on litigation. She focuses specifically on issues relating to the internet, including cybersquatting and brand protection challenges involving social media platforms and smartphone applications, keyword advertising, service provider liability, and personal jurisdiction relating to foreign online actors. She practices in federal court, before the Patent and Trademark Office’s Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB), and with dispute resolution service providers such as the Forum and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) handling domain name disputes under ICANN’s domain name dispute resolution policies. Wendy also assists clients in a variety of prosecution and other litigation matters. Wendy is a member of IPO’s Amicus Brief Committee.

Karen Cochran is the chief IP counsel at Shell, leading the company’s global IP department in support of IP strategies and related licensing activities. Karen began her career as a chemist at Rhône-Poulenc Rorer, and Merck Pharmaceuticals. Following law school, she reentered the pharmaceutical industry as a patent attorney and later joined AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals. Karen assumed roles of increasing responsibility while with AstraZeneca, including head of Neuroscience IP, leading a global team from the company’s Swedish offices. Karen subsequently joined DuPont in 2012 where she led both IP and commercial legal teams prior to becoming DuPont’s chief IP counsel and head of IP Litigation. She is a member of IPO’s Board of Directors, serving as president. Karen has also served on the board of Association for Women in Science (AWIS), an organization committed to the advancement of women in STEM.

Carey Jordan is a partner in the Vorys Houston office and chair of the intellectual property group. She advises large-scale clients on patent prosecution and global intellectual property (IP) portfolio management, agreements (technology transfer, joint development and other research agreements), licenses, transactions involving IP and risk consulting.  Carey also has significant experience in crafting and conducting effective and efficient IP due diligence for investments, acquisitions and divestitures.  Although experienced in multiple technology areas, her personal sweet spots are in the chemicals and materials science arenas. Carey received her J.D. magna cum laude from the University of Houston Law Center. She received her M.S. and B.S. magna cum laude from Clemson University. Carey's personal passion is to encourage women to study science and engineering.  For example, at Clemson University, her alma mater, Carey has established a scholarship campaign to aid women studying science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) obtain their degrees and pursue careers in STEM or IP.

Kelly McGlashen is Director of Patents at Robert Bosch LLC. 

Valerie Moore, Ph.D. is a registered patent agent who focuses her practice on domestic and foreign patent preparation and prosecution, as well as portfolio management, relating to chemistry, materials, and life sciences. Valerie’s technical and patent experience spans areas including nanotechnology, materials engineering, polymers and surfactants, surface science, corrosion chemistry, catalysis, upstream and downstream oil and gas chemistry, mining, sensors, bioimaging, biomedical implants, mathematical modeling of data, and integrating systems with mathematical modeling.

Angela Parsons, Ph.D., has been a Patent Agent for 25 years, starting her practice at a very small IP boutique before moving to Fish & Richardson. Angela focuses her practice on all aspects of life science patent prosecution, both U.S. and abroad, as well as due diligence, patentability opinions, and invalidity opinions. Her clients include universities and research institutes, start-up companies, and large companies that operate in the pharma and life sciences space.

Connie Pielech is a Patent Agent at Shell USA, Inc.

Daniela Gill-Carey holds a dual qualification as a European and as a UK Chartered patent attorney and is currently an associate general patent counsel within the UK IP department of UCB Biopharma. She supports all patent-related activities of various pre-clinical and clinical programs and biopharmaceutical technologies. Daniela started her career in the patent department of Procter and Gamble, before joining the pharmaceutical sector in 2008, first at TEVA and then at Novartis. Prior joining UCB, she led the IP department of Proteome Sciences, a British/German bioscience company. Before entering the patent profession, she received a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Zurich and a MSc in Intellectual Property Law from the ETH in Zurich (Switzerland).

Matthew is a Partner in the Life Sciences group at Carpmaels. He spends his time counselling clients in the pharmaceutical and chemical sector on strategies for maintaining market exclusivity in Europe. In this role he has advised the world’s largest drug companies on how to protect their intellectual property. At the core of Matthew’s practice is his experience representing clients before the European Patent Office in ex-parte examination proceedings and inter-partes opposition and appeal proceedings. He has handled complex multiparty opposition proceedings (in attack and defense) relating to a variety of commercial products and his endeavors for clients have taken him all the way to the EPO’s Enlarged Board of Appeal. Alongside this, Matthew has experience advising on SPC strategies and regulatory exclusivity relating to medicinal products in Europe.  He also has experience in providing litigation support in circumstances where parallel EPO and national court proceedings are pending. Matthew is a European and UK patent attorney and a registered UPC representative .  He is a Vice Chair of IPO’s European Practice Committee.

Nick Noble specializes in high-tech patent work and handles large volumes of high value work in the fields of telecoms & standards, electronics and healthcare technology. His academic background and 20 years’ experience has led to him being recognized as a leading telecoms patent expert. He advises his clients on all aspects of patent protection, including the preparation and prosecution of patent applications, opposition proceedings, freedom to operate, and infringement and validity opinions and he has particular experience of standards-related patent matters. Nick works as an extension of his clients’ teams and is to them a valued trusted advisor.

Nathalie Wajs is a Partner and a Patent Attorney at Plasseraud IP. She works on cases relating to cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, polymers, petrochemicals and catalysis for individuals, companies and research institutes. With more than 15 years of experience in intellectual property, she advises individuals, large groups and research institutes in the development and management of their patent portfolios: patent applications, granting procedures, legal advice (freedom to operate, audit of IP portfolios) and valuation, in the chemical sectors. She has developed a recognized expertise in litigation and opposition proceedings before the EPO. Nathalie started her career in IP in 2004 at L'OREAL, where she was responsible for foundation and powder products. Nathalie joined Plasseraud IP in 2008 and became a Partner in 2023.

Kate Cappaert is a partner at Steptoe & Johnson and focuses her practice on all aspects of intellectual property litigation.  Kate leverages her legal and industry experience as a mechanical engineer to help clients navigate intellectual property disputes across a variety of venues, and has appeared in cases before the US International Trade Commission, federal district courts throughout the United States, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, and the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Christopher Clancy, as VP, Legal & General Counsel, is focused on IP, commercial, compliance, employment and M&A issues. Christopher has worked at Panduit in the following roles since 2001:  Patent Attorney (2001-06); Assistant Patent Counsel – Electrical Group (2006-10); Patent Counsel – Electrical Group (2010-11); Chief Patent Counsel (2011-2016); and VP, Legal & General Counsel (2016-present).  Christopher also serves as the Corporate Secretary (2018 – present). He graduated from Northwestern University in 1993 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering and received his law degree from The John Marshall (now UIC) Law School in 1997 with a Juris Doctorate.

Matt Rizzolo is a litigator with Ropes & Gray who works extensively with technology companies to both enforce clients’ intellectual property rights and defend clients from infringement claims. Matt leads the firm’s practice in Section 337 actions before the United States International Trade Commission and has significant experience litigating patent cases in a variety of jurisdictions, including federal district courts throughout the United States, the Court of Federal Claims, the Federal Circuit, and before the Patent Trial & Appeal Board. Matt frequently writes and speaks on a wide variety of intellectual property issues, and is a sought-after commentator who has been quoted in media such as The National Law Journal, Bloomberg, Reuters, CNBC, and Law360, among others. He is a co-host of Ropes & Gray’s IP(DC) podcast, which focuses on intellectual property developments emanating from Washington, DC, and is a Vice-Chair of the IPO’s U.S. International Trade Commission Committee.  

David Hammond is a partner at the European IP firm Haseltine Lake Kempner LLP, practicing in the FMCG, life sciences and healthcare areas with a particular focus on small and large molecule therapeutics, microfluidic-based lab-on-a-chip technologies and food tech.  David is part of HLK’s specialist Oppositions team, regularly representing clients in EPO opposition and appeal hearings.

Wayne Jaeschke is a patent attorney in the Johnson and Johnson Global Legal Organization with close to 30 years of experience providing counsel to clients in the healthcare, pharmaceutical, and medical device fields.  Wayne currently serves as co Vice-Chair to IPO’s International Patent Law and Trade Committee and Chair of the WIPO and International Patent Practice sub-committee.

Chris Johns is a partner at Finnegan. He focuses on patent application drafting, prosecution, and portfolio development. He also works on litigations, ITC investigations, PTAB trials, and appeals. He provides domestic and international clients with strategic IP counseling. Chris works on matters in a variety of technical areas, from telecommunications and business methods, to medical devices and household goods. Before private practice, Chris served for nearly five years as a USPTO patent examiner. Chris co-authored and co-edited a recent book covering patent eligibility issues in more than a dozen countries.

Mauricio Samano is a senior associate at the patent department of the Mexican based law firm OLIVARES. His work in OLIVARES mainly focuses in prosecuting Chemical, Biotechnological and Pharmaceutical patent applications, as well as in providing technical opinions regarding patent infringement. He has experience in conducting state of the art searches and drafting patent applications. Additionally, he is a member of the International Patent Law and Trade Committee, as well as of the Latin American Practice Committee of Intellectual Property Owners (IPO) organization.

Shruti Costales is a Legal Director at Dell Technologies. She is a licensed patent attorney and has worked in private practice, in-house, and with the Federal Government. Shruti has 20+ years of deep legal experience in handling Intellectual Property (IP) transactions, complex commercial transactions including drafting and negotiating XaaS agreements and handling FED/SLED agreements, product counseling, procurement transactions, due diligence and mergers & acquisitions related assessments, patent counseling, patent litigation, patent and trademark application drafting and prosecution. Her experience includes working in the technology (XaaS, IoT, AI, HW, and SW), healthcare (including biotechnology, medical devices, and pharmaceutical – small molecule and large molecule), chemical (including catalysts and polymers), semiconductor, and petrochemical/energy industries. Shruti has a BS in Chemical Engineering from Purdue University and her JD from Franklin Pierce Law Center (now the University of New Hampshire School of Law). She is the co-chair of the Diversity & Inclusion committee for the Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO) where she has co-authored many white papers and guides. Shruti loves reading mysteries, writing poetry, and sewing. 

Keisha Hylton-Rodic, Ph.D. is a registered patent attorney with a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry. She specializes in assisting pharmaceutical companies, start-ups, universities, chemical companies, and venture capital funds, achieve their IP objectives. Dr. Hylton-Rodic’s practice includes patent procurement, patent-related risk assessments (including freedom-to-operate, IP due diligence investigations, non-infringement, and validity), design-around strategies and opinions. She has extensive experience developing and managing domestic and foreign patent portfolios in a variety of technical areas including biotech, chemical, pharmaceutical, food, and paper.

Rachael Rodman is an accomplished litigator who concentrates her practice in the area of IP litigation, and has experience representing clients in variety of cases involving patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secret claims. She also has experience in complex business litigation, and has litigated cases involving contract, shareholder, and non-compete disputes. In addition to her substantial trial experience in state and federal court, Rachael has extensive appellate experience, in both Ohio and federal appellate courts. Prior to beginning her litigation practice, Rachael clerked for the Ohio Court of Appeals for the Second Appellate District.  She has participated in arbitrations through the American Arbitration Association and the dispute resolution forums of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and the American Health Lawyers Association.

Elaine Spector is a patent attorney with over 20 years of experience in intellectual property law.  Her current practice consists primarily of prosecuting patent applications with a focus on electromechanical technologies. Prior to joining Harrity & Harrity, Elaine worked in private practice for over 15 years handling various intellectual property matters, including patent application drafting and prosecution, trademark prosecution and enforcement, as well as litigating complex patent cases in federal courts. Elaine’s extensive litigation experience provides her with a unique perspective in prosecuting patent applications. Most recently, Elaine worked in-house for 6 years at Johns Hopkins Technology Ventures, where she managed over 500 matters in medical and software related technologies. As an avid believer in giving-back, Elaine serves a Board Member at No More Stolen Childhoods. She is also dedicated to improving diversity in the field of patent law through her numerous diversity leadership roles. Elaine hosts Driving Diversity, a weekly vlog sharing diversity-related tips and FAQ’s, as well as quarterly webinars in a series called Diversity Dialogue as part of Harrity’s Diversity Channel.